Wall construction



Jan. 17, 1933. R. w. DRESSER 1,894,576

WALL CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 16, 1931 3 sheets-Sheet 1 III Inventor: vmil $11, se 41m Jan. 17, 1933. R. w. DRESSER WALL CONSTRUCTION FiledOct. 16. 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 17, 1933. R. w. DRESSER 1,894,675

WALL CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 16, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 liii eiQia?Patented Jan. 17, 1933 PATENT OFFICE REVERE W. DRESSER, SAN DIEGO,CALIFORNIA WALL CONSTRUCTION Application filed October 16, 1931. SerialNo. 569,127.

This invention relates to an improved method and apparatus for wallconstruction and more particularly walls of cementitious material.

Heretofore walls of cementitious rnaterlal have ordinarily been made bypourlng into forms or by the building up of successive courses orsections or preformed cementitious block, slabs or the like.

It is the principal object of this invention to provide for formingbuilding and like walls in place, by extrusion, preferably ofcementitious material having the maximum of strength and unweakened bysuch hlgh proportion of water as is required in poured walls. Otherobjects of the invention are to provide for forming in placecementitious walls which may be of materially less thickness than theusual cast or formed walls, to provide for compacting the cementitiousmaterial about and in intimate adhesion to an inner supportingreinforcing sheet by transverse pressure; to provide for applying to theextruded or compacted wall suitable layers of sheet material, which maybe temporary, and

which act to prevent the cementitious material from falling away fromthe inner sup-' porting reinforcing sheet, and to do these thingstogether and in a coordinated fashion rendering possible the rapidconstruction of walls in place, preferably by machinery.

Other objects of the invention are to pro vide for the easy and rapidformation in place of successive sections of awall, to insure that thesuccessive sections will be united by cementing action of theirconstituent material,

to facilitate the adequate structural union between the innerreinforcing sheets of the successive sections; and to accomplish thesethings without interfering with the rapidity of formation of thewallsections severally.

In a specific instance, illustrating by way of example many features ofthe invention,

the wall may be formed by the extrusion of 4 plastic cementitiousmaterial upon a suitable base, such as a foundation or floor, the wallbeing formed by the extrusion of adjoining cementitious sections whichare integrally joined to each other before the cementitious materialhardens. The invention permits the tom of the hopper. The lower ends of.these employment of labor saving machinery and facilitates the rapiderection of continuous walls of reinforced cementitious material. Forthis purpose '1 preferably provide a truck carrying a frame in which avertically movable hopper is supported. Feeding means are arranged, todirect flexible sheets of material, such as sheets of paper to theopposite sides of a slot or opening at the hot- 00 sheets are secured tothe base and as the hopper is drawn upwardly the sheets are drawnupwardly so that they are in wetted contact with either side of thecementitious material which is extruded through the opening at thebottom of the hopper. Thus the sheets provide means retaining thecementitious mate rial in place until it has set and, in fact, aid itssetting. Preferably a metal reinforcement of coarse-meshed wire may bearranged between the sheets, for example the lower end of the Wire maybe secured to the base upon which the wall is formed and its upper endmay be carried upon a roller, suitable tension means being providedto'hold the wire taut as the cementitious material is extrudedthereabout. When a section of a wall has been extruded in this manner,suitable supporting elements may be arranged to retain the upper ends ofthe outer and/0r reinforcing sheets in place. Thereupon the truck ismoved to an adjoining portion of the base and the operation is repeatedso that the succeeding wall section is similarly formed, the extrudedcementitious material in the new wall section joining with that of thefirst section before the latter has hardened so that a continuousintegral wall is thus built up, section by section.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a front elevational view ofapparatus for erecting a cementitious wall;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section on line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section of a portion of the mechanism showing thehopper and also showing the manner of connecting the reinforcing wireand the face sheets to the base; Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the upperpart of a Wall showing the arrangement of horizontal and substantiallyvertical supporting means therefor;

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section of an end portion of a wall showing theend reinforcement and form member therefor;

Fig. 7 is an elevational view of a wall having two sections erected andshowing the apparatus in position for erecting of the third section;

Fig. 8 is a perspective detail of a supporting member; and

F i 9 is a sectional detail of splicing means for t e same.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, the numeral 1 designates theframe of a truck, which may be supported on wheel 2 that engage therails 3 of a temporary track 5, this track being provided with crossmembers or sleepers 6. The track preferably has its rails arranged uponopposite sides and at equal distances from the central plane of the wallto be erected. The wall may be erected upon any suitable base 7, as forexample a poured cementitious footing. Preferably suitable double endedhook elements 10 are secured in the base 7 when the same is originallyformed or at least before the erection of the wall is started. The lowerends of these hook elements may engage horizontal bars 13 embedded inthe base.

The frame 1 is provided with a plurality of uprights 16 which supportthe various parts of the movable apparatus. A drum 20 is arranged on ahorizontal shaft 21, the latter being mounted upon journals 221a theupper part of the frame. A gear 24 on the outer end of shaft 21 isengageable by the pinion 26 operated by handcrank 27. A plurality ofcables 29 extending over pulleys 30 are connected to the upper edge of ahopper casing 31. This casing is of split, boxlike form and carriesopposite pairs of outstanding arms 32 upon which removable rolls 33 maybe rotatably mounted. These rolls preferably carry oonvolutions of sheetmaterial 35 such as a heavy paper. Below the member 31 are belts 36having converging runs passing over upper pulleys 38 and lower pulleys41. which define the shape of the lower part of the hopper but arespaced to provide a central opening or slot. The shafts of the pulleysor rollers 41 extend outwardly and are provided with sprockets 42. Eachof the sprockets 42 engages an upwardly extending chain run 43, thelower end of which is detachably connected by a hook element 44 to asleeper 6 of the track 5, the upper end of the chain being secured to afixed bracket 46. This arrangement positively drives the belts 36, whenhopper 31 is lifted.

Paper runs 37 from the paper rolls 35 are fed through slots 39 (Fig. 4)of hopper 31 and over the conver ing runs of the belts 36. Suitableguides 40 are arranged below the belts at either side of the hopper toengage the outer faces of the paper sheets. It is evident that when theshaft 21 and roller 20 are rotated due to turning of the crank 27 thehopper assembly including the member 31, the rolls 35 and the belts 36may be hoisted.

A platform 50 is located at one end of the frame to support the operatorwhen he turns the crank 27, while suitable step elements 51 permit readyaccess to the platform. Above the roller 20 is a removable roll 55 whichmay support a length of wire netting 56, being adapted to feed thisnetting downwardly through the hopper casing 31 and through the openingat the bottom of the hopper. The upper end of the wire run just belowthe roll 55 is secured in place by a self-locking cam element 46 mountedon a swinging lever 47, the cam element cooperating with a fixedabutment 48 in gripping the wire run to prevent its downward movement.The wire reinforcement preferably has a width greater than that of thehopper 31, one edge of the wire, as shown in Fig. 3, being disposed inthe slot 31 at one end of the hopper and substantially in alignment withthe ends of the hopper, i. e., projecting slightly beyond the papersheets. At the opposite end of the hopper the wire projects for asubstantial distance beyond the slot 31, so that, as successive sectionsare erected, the wire reinforcing elements thereof are disposed inoverlapping relationship.

Apparatus of the character described is adapted to make a wall after anend supporting and forming member 60, Fig. 6, has been erected at oneend of the proposed wall. and temporarily supported by any suitableshoring members. The truck is thus placed so that frame 1 is arrangedwith the end of the hopper assembly juxtaposed to the end member 60,Fig. 3. The end of the wire 56 is secured to the upper ends of thedouble ended hooks 10 by arranging horizontal bars 67 in the upper endsof these hooks and twisting the lower ends of the wires about these barsas designated by numeral 68, Fig. 4. The resulting wire run is thus heldtaut in a substantially vertical plane to define the central plane ofthe wall. The ends of the paper runs 37 are drawn downwardly between theguides 40 and are turned outwardly as designated by numeral 69, suitableboards or strips 70 being located between the sleepers 6 upon theseoutturned portions of the sheets and the wedge elements 71, being driventhrough the paper in engagement with the lower face of bar 67 to retainthe outturned ends of the paper runs in engagement with the base.

A suitable plastic cementitious mixture is supplied to the hoppercasings 31. This mix ture may preferably comprise a comparatively lowpercentage of water. for example substantially the minimum proportion ofwater that is necessary to impart the maximum strength to the ultimateset concrete,

such a mixture being known in the trade as a 100% mix. The guides 40 arelocated directly above the wedges 71 when the cementitious material isinitially supplied to the hopper 31. The crank 27 is then operated tolift the hopper, thus causing the cementitious material to be extrudedfrom the hop per due to the action of gravity and frictional engagementwith the sheets 37 which converge as they move toward the lower part ofthe hopper. The sheets are thus drawn upwardly in contact with thecementitious material and are accurately guided by the belts 36 andmembers 40, the pressure of the cementitious material holding them infirm frictional engagement with the guide belts 36. Thus the sheets 37are fed into parallel vertical planes as the cementitious material isextruded from the hopper, the transverse compacting action of the hopperon the cementitious mass preferably taking place through the medium ofthe sheets of paper. It will now be apparent how the extruded andtransversely compacted wall formed about the central reinforcing sheet,and pressed into intimate association therewith, is suspended or hungtherefrom during setting. The sheets of paper disposed on opposite facesof the wall, preferably by mecha-. nism such as just described, serve inrelation to the wall to keep the cementitious material from falling awayfrom its central reinforcing and supporting sheet.

The hoisting mechanism may be operated quite rapidly to permittheextrusion of the entire wall section. When the mechanism has been liftedto a point corresponding to the upper edge of the wall, i. e., the upperend of the upright 60, suitable horizontal supporting elements such asangles 61 may be secured by bolts 62 to the upper end of the verticalmember, these members 61 being engageable with the outer faces of thesheets 37. Preferably members 61 are provided with rows of inwardlyprojecting fingers 63 (Fig. 8) that are adapted to engage complementaryopenings 62 in the opposite member 61, these fingers being disposed sothat they may engage transverse wires of the reinforcing member properlyto support the latter in place, as shown in Fig. 5. Suitable diagonalshoring elements 91 may be temporarily engaged with the outer ends ofthe members 61 as diagrammatically indicated in Fig. 5 and as shown inFig. 7. Thereupon the paper sheets may be severed and the end of thereinforcing wire may be cut oil leaving the upper end of the reinforcedwall section in the condition illustrated in Fig. 5. Thereupon the truckcarrying the frame 1 may be rolled ahead on the track to a position tomake an adjoining section whereupon the process described is in generalrepeated, the cementitious material for the second section beingextruded and integrally joined .with the cementitious material of thefirst section. As shown in Fi 7, the wire reinforcements overlap each 0tor as successive sections are erected. When the second section has beenextruded a second pair of horizontal supporting elements 61 may beconnected to the ends of the first pair for example by means of splicingplates 66, slotted pins 92 and wedges 93 received there- 1n, Fig. 9, andmay have their outer ends shored up by temporary diagonals 91. Thereuponthe frame 1 may be moved along the track to the position of the thirdsection where it is shown in Fig. 7. After the cementitious material ofthe wall has had time to take a substantially permanent set, thetemporary shoring members 91 may be removed and the members 61disconnected from each other and from the upright 60, which may also beremoved. Vhen the opposite end of the wall is reached a similar form andreinforcing member may be employed. The sleepers 6 and wedges 71 may bedriven out of the bottom of the wall or cut off, in the former case, theresulting openings may be filled with plastic cement to complete thewall. The paper sheets 37 may be stripped from the wall after the samehas initially set, or after complete setting, or not at all.

This method of wall construction is particularly advantageous when arelatively thin continuous, reinforced wall is to be formed of cement.The provision of the movable extruding mechanism or hopper permits theerection of a wall of this type very rapidly, Without requiring theprior building of elaborate temporary forms. Since pouring is notdepended upon, the cementitious mixture may be relatively stiff, i. e.,have a low percentage of water which is conducive to the production ofcement having the maximum structural strength.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purposeof illustration only and that this invention includes all modificationsand equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Method of wall construction comprising the arrangement of reinforcingmeans in the plane of the wall, theextrusion of plastic cementitiousmaterial on opposite sides of the reinforcing means, and the applying offlexible sheets upon opposite sides of the cementitious material, andpermitting the material to set between the sheets.

2. Method of wall construction which comprises supporting a reinforcingmeans in the intended plane of the wall, holding ends of flexible sheetsat a suitable base in spaced relation at opposite sides of saidreinforcing means, and extruding cementitious material between the saidflexible sheets while gradually feeding the sheets into position ateither side of the cementitious material.

3. Method of wall construction comprising the arrangement ofreinforcement means in the plane. of the wall, the extrusion of plasticcementitious material on opposite sides of the reinforcing means, thecompressing of the cementitious ciation with the reinforcing means andwith itself, and the disposition of flexible sheets upon opposite facesof the cementitious material to hold the cementitious material fromfalling away from the reinforcing means during setting.

4. Method of constructing a wall in place in successive sectionscomprising the arrangement of a vertical reinforcing strip in the planeof the wall, the extrusion of plastic cementitious material on oppositesides of the reinforcing strip, the compressing of the cementitiousmaterial into intimate association with the reinforcing means and withitself, the disposition of flexible covering sheets on opposite faces ofthe cementitious material, and the repetition of these operations toform successive sections of the wall, the cementitious material of eachsuccessive section being extruded into contact with the precedingextruded section, so as to form a continuous wall.

5. Method of constructing a wall in place in successive sections, whichcomprises securing the lower ends of flexible sheets in spaced relationand securing the lower end of a wire reinforcement intermediate the saidsheets, extruding cementitious material between the sheets and at eitherside of the reinforcement, progressively feeding the sheets intoposition at either side of the cementitious material while holding thewire reinforcement vertically intermediate the sheets, disposingsupports for the thus formed plastic wall to hold it up while setting,locating other sheets and a wire reinforcement and extrudingcementitious material between said other sheets and in contact with thepreceding wall section to provide a successive section of a continuouswall.

6. Method of constructing a wall in place in successive sectionscomprising supporting a reinforcing sheet in the intended plane of thewall, extruding cementitious material on opposite sides of said sheet,leaving an edge portion of the reinforcing material extending from thethus formed wall section, disposing covering sheets on the faces of thewall section thus formed to prevent the extruded cementitious materialfrom falling away from the reinforcing sheet during setting, supportinganother reinforcin sheet in approximate prolongation of the firstreinforcing sheet, and in overlapping relation with the extending edgeportion thereof, and extruding cementitious material on opposite sidesof said other reinforcing sheet whereby to surround the overlap of the/successive reinforcing sheets with the cementitious wall material.

material into intimate asso- 7. Method of wall construction insuccessive sections, which comprises securing the ends of flexiblesheets to a suitable base in spaced parallel relation, securing the endof a wire reinforcement to the base, extrudin cementitious materialbetween the sheets and at either side of the reinforcement whilegradually feeding the sheets into position at either side of thecementitious material while holding the wire reinforcement into a tautposition intermediate the sheets, disposing substantially horizontalsupporting elements against the outer faces of the sheets, locatingvertical supports between the base and the said horizontal supportingelements, thereby forming the first section of the wall, and locatingsheets and extruding cementitious material therebetween to provide asuccessive section of the wall.

8. Method of wall construction in successive sections, which comprisessecuring a reinforcement to a suitable base, securing the ends offlexiblesheets to the base in spaced parallel relation. extrudingcementitious material bctween'the sheets and at either side of thereinforcement while gradually feeding the sheets into position at eitherside of the cementitious material, disposing substantially horizontalsupporting elements against the outer faces of the sheets, locatingvertical supports between the base and the said horizontal supportingelements, thereby forming the first section of the wall, and locatingsheets and extruding cementitious material therebetween to provide asuccessive section of the wall.

9. Method of wall construction characterized by holding a reinforcingsheet in the intended plane of the wall, placing a mass of cementitiousmaterial on both sides of said reinforcing sheet, and compressing saidcementitious material from both sides of the reinforcing sheet byapplying pressure thereto, transverse to the reinforcing sheet throughthe medium of exterior flexible sheet material on each side of thecementitious mass, thereby compacting the cementitious materialand'attaching it to the reinforcing sheet, and disposing the exteriorsheet material in the form of a protective covering for the thus-formedwall.

10. Wall forming mechanism operative to form a cementitious wall about avertical reinforcing support sheet, having therein vertically movablemeans for progressively pressing a mass of cementitious material towardand into intimate association wit-h said sheet while compacting the massfrom opposite sides thereof toward said support sheet to form a densewall having the support sheet included therein, in combination withmeans for applying to opposite faces of the wall protective sheets ofcovering material.

11. Apparatus for making a wall comprising a frame, a hopper verticallymovable in the frame, means for feeding sheets in converging relation toa slot in the bottom of the hopper, and means for supporting reinforcingmaterial extending through the slot between its opposite sides.

12. Apparatus for making a wall comprising a frame, a hopper verticallymovable in the frame, means for feeding sheets in converging relation toa slot in the bottom of the hopper, means for feeding reinforcingmaterial through the slot between its opposite sides, and a truck uponwhich the frame is supported.

13. Apparatus for making a wall comprising a frame, a hopper verticallymovable in the frame, means for feeding sheets in converging relation toa slot in the bottom of the hopper, means for feeding reinforcingmaterial through the slot between its opposite sides, and means forsimultaneously hoisting the hopper and operating both the feeding means.

14. Apparatus for making a wall compris ing a frame, a hopper verticallymovable in the frame, belts at the lower part of the hopper withconverging surfaces but spaced to provide a slot at the bottom of thehopper, said hopper being vertically movable in the frame, hoistingmechanism for lifting the hopper, rolls carried at opposite sides of thehopper and arranged to feed flexible sheets over the belts anddownwardly through the slot as the hopper is lifted, and a roll forreinforcing Wire on the upper part of the frame,

' whereby the wire may extend through the lle fi d cha'n elements en a'n the Pu Xe 1 g g1 g f gagement with the end of the wire reinforceslotintermediate said sheets.

15. Apparatus for making a Wall comprising a frame, a hopper verticallymovable in the frame, means for feeding sheets in conver ing relation toa slot in the bottom of the opper, said means includin downwardlyinclined belt s, pulleys supporting the belts, sprocket means associatedwith certain of the sprockets and adapted to cause rotation o thepulleys and movement of the belts when the hopper is moved vertically, aroll for supporting reinforcing wire disposed above the vertical path oft e hopper and means to grip a wlre run depending from the roll so thatthe wire run may extend through the slot and be held taut when connectedto a fixed base below the ho per.

16. Apparatus for ma g a wall comprising a frame, a hopper supported bythe frame and vertically movable in relation thereto, means for feedingsheets in converging rela tion to a slot in the bottom of the hopper,means to sup ort an intermediate reinforcing sheet exten in through theslots between said first-name sheets, the opposite ends of the hopperhaving slots therein through which t e reinforcing sheet may project.

17. Method of wall construction in successive sections, which comprisesthe extrusion of cementitious material between parallel retaining sheetsand about intermediate reinforcing elements, erecting a temporaryframework to support the upper ends of the sheets and the reinforcingelements for one section, arranging the reinforcing elements of onesection so that they extend into the position to be occupied by the nextsection, extruding cementitious material between the sheets and aboutthe reinforcing elements of successive sections in a similar manner,supportingthe sheets and reinforcing elements therefor by a temporaryframework, permitting the cementitious material to harden, then removingthe temporary framework and stripping the sheets.

18. Apparatus for making a wall in place in successive sectionscomprising a device adapted upon vertical movement to extrudecementitious material on both sides of a vertical support sheetsimultaneously, means for raising said device, the device being formedto surround two faces and a free vertical edge of said vertical supportsheet, the device including parts acting to confine the extrusion ofcementitious material to a portion of the vertical support sheet spacedfrom the said free edge thereof so as to leave the free edge of thesupport sheet unsurrounded by cementitious material for subsequentassociation with the next adjacent section of the Wall.

19. Method of wall construction in successive sections which comprisesthe erection of an end reinforcing element, the extrusion ofcementitious material between opposite sheets with their ends juxtaposedto the reinforcing element and about an intermediate reinforcement ofmeshed wire, while limiting the width of the first section thus extrudedso that the wire reinforcement projects beyond the extruded cementitiousmaterial, extruding the cementitious material of a second sectionbetween a second pair of retaining sheets and about reinforcing wire inoverlapped enment for the first section, and thus proceeding to erectsuccessive sections, permittin the cementitious material to harden, anstripping the sheets from the face of the successively formed sections.

Signed by me at Boston, Massachusetts, this 13th day of October, 1931.

REVERE W. DRESSER.

